Devil In The Flesh
by mispel
Summary: What the Devil means to Sucre. MichaelSucre, mild slash.


Devil In The Flesh

Yeah, Sucre was scared of the Devil - the bastard wouldn't leave him alone. He chased him down every dark street since he was a kid. Sucre couldn't let the Devil catch him. He ran and ran, left the Devil behind. But the Devil was always around the next damn corner.

The Devil waited in the places where Sucre did the things he couldn't confess. He'd confess other sins, things he didn't do, to make it up to God. He wanted to stay on His good side. When he lied to God, the Devil had his ear to the door. When Sucre should have been home, the Devil made him forget the time. Sucre went where no one knew him, hoping he wouldn't be seen coming out of bars, apartments, dark alleys, and the Devil welcomed him. The Devil leaned over his shoulder when Sucre lied to Maricruz about where he had been. The Devil laughed when Sucre told the truth, "I swear on my soul, there is no other woman, Maricruz."

In all that time, Sucre never knew what the Devil looked like. He was a shadow behind the eyes that beckoned him, a cold hand touching him, a hot breath before a kiss. Now Sucre was locked up, and the Devil was in his face. He was real.

To ward him off, Sucre pictured a nice house, kids, and Maricruz. The picture was pure, solid, like a fortress against evil but sun bathed and pretty too. But no matter how much light God poured down from Heaven on this perfect little house, there was always a shadow somewhere, in a corner, in a doorway, in the bushes.

The sun was high above. Sucre was playing on the neat, green lawn with the kids. He was horsing around with them, chasing them while they squealed all happy like kids do. Out of the corner of his eye, Sucre saw a man's outline by the chain link fence. Sucre tried not to look, but his eyes kept going there. His eyes were always looking where they shouldn't. Sucre held his cross, but the shadow didn't go away. The kids were gone. Shapes in blue crisscrossed the lawn. Sucre went inside the house.

Sucre pictured himself with Maricruz inside their house. He held her in his arms. Maricruz was real, not like the kids. He could remember how she felt, soft and warm and how she smelled. Sucre saw the shadow on the window.

"Don't let him take me, mi amor."

"It's just a tree branch blocking the sun," Maricruz told him.

Maricruz couldn't see him. The Devil was nothing to her. The Devil was dogging Sucre. Waiting. Sucre's arms were empty. Maricruz was gone like the kids. Sucre searched all the rooms of the house looking for them. He didn't want to be alone with him. He didn't want to give himself up to him.

The house wasn't the same any more. The white light was fading to gray. Long corridors stretched out. Restless shadows lurked in doorways of small rooms. Sucre sat in the kid's room, on their bunk bed, his head down, waiting. A shadow blocked the light from the door.

"You're on my bed," Sucre heard him say. His voice was cool, like when the air first turns cold in the Fall. Just a chilly breath while the days are still warm to remind you of what was coming.

Sucre tried not to look up at him. He could feel the Devil's eyes on him – as if he was running his cold fingers down Sucre's spine. His tattooed arm was catching the gray light. Sucre saw crisscrossing blue lines on smooth skin pulling his eyes up to the Devil's face.

Yeah, Sucre was scared of the Devil. The Devil was going to take him straight to Hell, and Sucre wasn't going to resist. Sure he made some noise, protested, crossed himself. But when the Devil made a plan, Sucre followed it. He told him what to do, and Sucre did it. The Devil in the flesh wasn't so bad. He wasn't some ugly dude that hides in the dark. He stood right where Sucre could see him. Sucre took a good look, and he didn't want to get away any more. The Devil put thoughts right into Sucre's head, like he was pouring honey into his skull. Sucre wondered if he could turn things around - tempt the Devil. When Sucre was on his bed, what was he gonna do about it.

The End


End file.
